Club Obi Wan

At the Queen Mary 2005, Canyon and I had talked about how I should pick up an Akubra Federation and put a Last Crusade bash on it. With this last paycheck, I had the extra cash, and figured what the heck. So, I placed my order. It arrived today, and probably took me all of 10 minutes to put a bash in that I was happy with. Without further ado ...



Here is the hat right out of the box. Some slight taper is obvious, so that solidified my decision to drop an LC bash on this puppy. I might've done a Raiders bash instead, if it had less taper. If there was more taper, I would have gone Temple of Doom, but this level of taper seemed just right for a Last Crusade bash.



Here she is when I was done.



And on my head.

Feel free to opine.

Wow, that looks great!

I think you nailed the LC look PERFECTLY! Great hat, and a great bash!

Thanks! As the hat was on order, I took many screen grabs from Last Crusade so that I could study them while I waited. I probably took over 20 screen grabs, and would just stare at them going "OK, I think this is how I am going to get the crown to do this...let me write that down..." I've always liked the LC hat (just not as much as I like the Raiders hat), and since I have a Raiders AB on order, I figured it was time to add this style to the stable. Maybe someday, I'll get another Akubra Fed and go Temple of Doom.

Good job!
And the hat just looks perfect proportional wise in every way.
I wish mine did that too.



I can't wait for it to taper enough to see a ToD bash on it. *Kidding*

Regards,
Swindiana

Strider, that a great job you did.

Very nice job! If or when I get another lid I think that one will be in the running.

I like the way it goes from olive drab, to golden glowing brown, to Lucky Charms Green. What size is it? Did you notice any signs of it having been stretched lengthwise with a heated expanding block? (That might start at size 59, like mine, but I'm not sure.) You gotta love the high quality sweats in these hats, buttery soft, thin, and smell like a new Wested. Looks really good with that bash.

Very nice my friend...trust Australian made


TAZ

Lookin' very good my friend! Seeing a new unbashed fedora, right out of the box, has got to be one of lifes little pleasures.

It's a very nice looking LC bash and from your last pic I can see you're very happy with it!!!!
The colour (when it doesnt look... green? ... or grey ) is very nice. I have never owned an Akubra but from the pics I've seen on this forum (and today in this thread) their felt looks very high quality!

Wear it a lot and give us MORE PICS!!!

I am sure the color is a nice warm brown on that Akubra. Sometimes cameras pick up the greener highlights and if you're real unlucky, like me, those highlights may be realized, but there is no reason for concern. Most people never have an issue.

The bash is great. I love seeing something other than a Raider's bash, though I dearly love it. This bash is very classic and will suit your more formal clothes (catch the pun?).

Nice job, Stider.

Looks kinda cowboyish, but I don't know why. Maybe it's the pretty shallow front dents, maybe it's the brim, maybe it's the greenish color. Nice hat anyways.

$3thou wrote:

I like the way it goes from olive drab, to golden glowing brown, to Lucky Charms Green.

So what color is it? Plane Scene Grey? Coffee Brown? or TOD green?
GL

Veddy nice! Me gusta! Ja gut, Herr Strider!

I think the bash came out really good - I tried once to do an LC bash on my buddy's Akubra and it came out looking almost like a Dorfman.

In Christ,
Shane

Great LC bash, Strider!! Looks good on ya'.

Ah, very 'Venice Pier'!
Always loved how "straight-outta-tha-box" that hat looked. Well done!

3thoubucks wrote:I like the way it goes from olive drab, to golden glowing brown, to Lucky Charms Green. What size is it? Did you notice any signs of it having been stretched lengthwise with a heated expanding block? (That might start at size 59, like mine, but I'm not sure.) You gotta love the high quality sweats in these hats, buttery soft, thin, and smell like a new Wested. Looks really good with that bash.

It's a size 58 (7 1/4), and it didn't look like it'd been stretched to me, but I admit I didn't look for that right away.

Thanks for all your kind words, gentlemen!

Nice...is this the Deluxe or just the Regular.....how long do they take to get once you place an order with them?

That's a nice bash, Strider. I didn't go Indy on mine, but I love it just the same. It's the hat I grab when I see dark clouds in the sky but I still want to look good.

Indiana Lee (hi again); If memory serves, I had the hat in about two weeks, but that was with a second hat that had to be retrieved from their warehouse. So you might get it faster. They have several different shipping speeds, anyway.
Chewie

Depends on shipping method and if the hat is in stock. I just ordered another Akubra on Monday and it should be in my hands tomorrow. My first hat from HatsDirect took five days but that was also over a weekend.

Looks great, Strider. The LC bash is my favorite...KC

Not really sure of my hat size. I have a stetson and a herbert johnson, both the same size , but the fit is not the same. The stetson fits a lighter tighter, a little better than my HJ, which feels a little loose. Do these run large do you think? Or should I go with that Hat size again, and hope it fits like my Stetson?

Measure your head, if you have something to do it with. When you go to Hats Direct's site, look for their size conversion chart. Akubra sizes run a little different. If you can't measure, then use the size from your Stetson and HJ and compare it on the size chart to the "cm" size. The hat should be a little loose when new, but will conform to your head with wear.
Chewie

I just ordered the same size I order my ABs in, and it came out fine. It's a regular Akubra, and took roughly 10 days to arrive. Thanks again for the kind words, guys.

Any tips or tricks to get such a spot-on LC bash? After seeing yours I decided to order another Akubra myself.

I tried taking pics of myself putting the bash in as I did it, but with no person to take the pictures for me, it didn't really work out. I have a bunch of reference pictures that I used for study when I had the hat on order, but let me see if I can describe what I did.

I did the brim first. The brim on the LC hat is really really curly on the sides, and just pops down a tad in front. To get that, I had to be a little rough with the brim, but it turned out great. I curled both sides of the brim up with my hands, (and I know this part sounds funny, but it's what I did) then I pushed the front of the brim down with my chin simultaneously. I held it like that for about 2 minutes or so, and just kept doing it periodically as I was shaping the crown.

For the crown, the pinch is only tight at the apex of the crown. The dents are put in in such a way that makes it look like there's this little mountain triangle on the front of the crown, leading up to the apex. For the dents, they're almost more like side dents than they are front dents, but I digress. I put one hand inside the crown, and pushed the dent in with my other hand (similar to what Pagey did in his "Pagey Bash Tutorial"), and pinched with the hand inside the crown so the dent would form, being careful to leave that triangle on the front. Once the dent popped in, I pushed it down a little on the side of the hat, and it just came out the way you see it in the pic. That's how I did both dents. I just keep curling the brim and pushing the front down with my chin every now and then, and it looks great every time I do it.

Hope that helps!

Thanks! That helps a TON! Hopefuly my hat will come today and I can get started!

I'm glad. The center dent is relatively easy to put in. I just put one hand inside the hat, and formed it with my other hand. The center dent in the LC hat isn't that deep, so the crown height was just fine for that.

Well, my new Fed Deluxe arrived today!

I think if Strider's is a 58 then a 59 must be where they start using a straighter sided block, because my 59 is pretty straight, almost to the point of looking a little reverse-tapered in an LC bash.

Here's what my 10 minutes of tweaking got me. Not as good as Strider's, that's for sure!




With that straight sided look happening on it's own I decided to try a Raiders bash as well, just to see how that might turn out.

Same hat, different bash:




As much as I wanted my second hat to be a LC, I think it's trying to tell me it wants to be a Raiders...

Excellent! Can't believe what a great block shape you got with that hat! Take advantage of it and stay with the Raiders look.

Hoo boy. I think that hat looks good no matter which way you do it. Go with what'cha enjoy, my friend! I really like the way it turned out. I'd like to see it on your head, then we'd really see how Raiders/LC it looked.

I'm hoping my resident photographer (wife) will be willing to take some photos of me later today or tomorrow. I'm not so hot at taking the "into the mirror" shots, but I might try anyway.

Pardon my photography skills, but here's a couple shots of me in the (still Raiders) hat.

Looks great!

Regards! Michaelson

Looks great so far. I'd like to see how the LC bash looks, too.

I think Feds go on the electric expanding block at size 59. Leaves stretch marks on the sides and across the tops of the hats, and the felt is softer in these sectors. There's evidence the Raiders hat was stretched. The marks are are more prominent on the Regular Fed than the Deluxe because of felt difference.

Here's the ol' Fed with some Fuller's Earth applied to it.

Flash:



No Flash:

Awesome bash and weathering, Strider! Now how about some pics of you in fully weathered/distressed LC gear?

Direct link: viewtopic.php?p=257663#257663

That's a great looking fedora, Strider.

I love the distressed look!

This is the same Akubra Fed posted above over a year later. This hat has been rained on, accidentally sat on, re-bashed, dusted up, sweated in, worn to death, and then worn some more. Still has the ol' LC bash going on, and here's how she looks today:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v682/ ... FedOYL.jpg

Soo...does it look ugly or something? I don't understand why it's getting IGNORED.

Well, it still looks good man - those Akuba's can take a beating and then some.

Is it just me, or does the brim look slightly smaller in the new photograph? It may just be the angle of the shot, I suppose.

Brim's the same size. Never did anything to it but shape it over time. It's more curly now than it used to be, because the brim has lost 99% of the stiffener that was in it when I first got it.

strider, you've strayed from the beautiful SA LC bash that i recall viewing a year ago....to be honest, i didn't think it could be done that well with the akubra......., but you're hat now has a character of its own.

to be honest, i liked the way it originally looked....but then again, she wasn't protecting my head on rainy days or molding to my noggin on hot days nor gettting trained by my hand. the experiences that you have with her gives it its appeal that no one else can truly appreciate except for you. that factor alone gives it its charm. we can only comment on what we see. i like any fedora that sits on an owner who truly treats it like an old friend. so, yes sir....that is a fine hat you have there

Wow that thing LOOKS like it's been worn to death and then some. Amazing how those Akubras hold up, isn't it? Kinda looks like mine - though I think mine may be more tapered... of course mine is about 3 years old.

Here's mine today, if you don't mind my showing it:



Yours looks more faded than mine though...

In Christ,
Shane

It is amazing how things change in a year. Based on McFly's avatar, he's looking much more like Spielberg these days...or Elodie.

i say elodie.......



sorry shane...couldn't resist

Alright!! Alright!!! I'll change my avatar! Ugh!



You guys su*k! lol

In Christ,
Shane